Skip to main content

Disbursements

Reimagining social benefits

Transforming government-to-person payments to create more effective, responsive and secure programmes that promote inclusivity for all.

Young woman in subway station.
Disbursements

Distribute funds digitally and inclusively

Delivering resources with unmatched security, safety and speed achieves greater inclusion more efficiently.

Timely, targeted disbursements can provide a lifeline to citizens in need

As societies continue to experience health, social and economic disruptions, governments will continue to rely on disbursements to ensure a basic level of welfare for their citizens.

Young woman holding phone with city landscape in background.

The digital revolution of government payments is here

Digitalising disbursements helps ensure that social benefits are delivered efficiently and can be easily used by citizens for a range of use cases — all with increased transparency, greater inclusion, reduced processing time and costs and value-added benefits.

Woman using smartphone with toddler.

Since 2008, the Direct Express programme has paid federal beneficiaries seamlessly, inclusively and securely, while sparing taxpayers and customers the costs and risk associated with cashing paper checks.

Timothy Gribben Commissioner, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Measuring our impact

Mastercard enables governments to allocate funds efficiently and inclusively.

$40b

federal benefit payments made by the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury on Direct Express cards annually

$50m

savings every year for the U.S. government versus check 

$150m

annual savings for cardholders vs check

Powering economies by empowering people

We partner with governments across the globe to deliver effective disbursement solutions through our expertise, technology and scale.

Mastercard prepaid icon

Mastercard prepaid

Physical or digital cards loaded by governments or individuals available to all consumers (banked or unbanked).

Mastercard transfer solutions icon

Mastercard transfer solutions

Suite of Mastercard products that facilitate government disbursements.

Learn more

Data and insights icon

Data and insights

Strong analytics platforms are key to gaining actionable insights on the effectiveness and efficiency of disbursements programs.

Learn more
Fraud analytics icon

Fraud analytics

Suite of Mastercard products that help governments reduce fraud leakage and increase control linked to program objectives.

Featured resources

Helping the public sector digitalise vital services

We act as a partner and problem solver for governments across the globe.

Government revenue icon.

Government revenue collections

We help governments transform the way they collect public revenues to create streamlined, intuitive and citizen-centric 
e-government services.

Explore solutions
Procurement icon.

Procurement

We use payment technologies and data insights to help governments streamline their procurement process and deliver greater transparency to taxpayers.

Urban mobility icon.

Urban mobility

Mastercard solutions enable urban residents to move through cities efficiently, seamlessly and sustainably.

Explore solutions
Data insights icon.

Data insights

Mastercard supports governments through cooperative engagement, data-driven insights and tailored solutions to reach their goals, sustainably and transparently.

Tourism icon.

Tourism

Mastercard’s solutions help tourism stakeholders understand, attract, enhance and measure the traveller experience in their destinations.

Explore solutions
Small and medium enterprises icon.

Small and medium enterprises

We enable the public sector to help SMEs digitalise operations, manage payments and access capital, building secure, inclusive and sustainable economies.

Explore solutions
Cybersecurity icon.

Cybersecurity

Mastercard cybersecurity solutions help governments safeguard their platforms, digital transactions and ecosystem, providing protection against fraud and cybercrime.

Learn more

get in touch

We act as a partner and problem solver for governments across the globe

Contact us
Mastercard logo.